Assembling the First-War Order of the Phoenix, Part 6:James Potter
by Arasulgil
Summary: The Marauders are at James's house during Christmas when they overhear Marlene and Emmeline talking about the Order. They get some, but not all, of the truth out of Marlene, and contemplate their futures. A linked fic for TISWC Finals.


A/N:School:Beauxbatons,Year: 5

Assembling the First War Order of the Phoenix-Part 6

Preceding story:Paceso(Year 3)writing part 5

Story after:YouHaveNoIdeaWhatI'mCapableOf(Year 6)writing Part 7

Theme: Disappearing(incorporated with Marlene), Discovery(Marauders)

Special Rule:Use the Vanishing or Conjuring Spell(Marlene uses this to clean up a knocked glass)

Linked: Writing about the formation of and people joining the Order.

Main Prompt:**(Era)**First Wizarding War Additional Prompts: **[Quote]** 'There are two kinds of evil people in this world. People who do evil stuff, and people who see evil stuff being done and don't try to stop it'—Janis Ian, Mean Girls, **[Romantic pairing]** Lily Evans/ Potter and James Potter

WC:1 635

Betas:Paceso and Hemlockonium

* * *

The late afternoon sun beat down on the Hogwarts grounds. All were inside the castle, except for a single couple who were sitting behind the Quidditch stands. They were trying not to be spotted, each out of sight of their respective crowds of friends who'd be sure to make fun of them if they knew.

"I suppose we'd better go back in," the redhead said, rather regretfully. "Once they notice we're both missing, they'll eventually figure it out."

"Perhaps we should," the messy-haired boy said, withdrawing his arm from around the girl's shoulders. He jumped up after her, and they walked as quickly as they could to the castle, but not fast enough. A rapidly-moving grey rodent unexpectedly jumped onto the boy's back, and while he scratched, trying to get it off, a large body collided with him, pushing him to the ground.

Reaching for his glasses, the boy scowled, sitting up. "Don't do that, Padfoot!"

"Do what?" his attacker said, with an innocent look on his face. "Speaking of which, what were you two doing?"

"We were doing homework," the girl said. "He didn't understand his last Charms lesson and asked me to explain it to him."

"In this hot sun? I think not," Sirius said. "James, we know what you were doing."

"Er, I think I'll run off, I have prefect duties to attend to…" the girl said, trying to escape. It didn't work, though, for a third, sandy-haired boy blocked her path.

"We know, Prongs," Sirius crowed. "You and Lily were snogging. Again."

"No, it's not what it looks like!" James tried to say.

Lily sighed inwardly. No doubt she would get used to it.

OoOOOoo

The Christmas holidays had arrived, and for a wonder, all four Marauders had obtained permission from the necessary parents to spend the Christmas week at James's house. Lily would only be allowed to come over for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but on the whole, it worked out well.

The Christmas celebrations threw the house into a frenzy. Afterwards, the boys wondered how they had pulled a far fewer number of pranks than usual, but they had been kept so busy that they did not have the time for their usual tricks.

James's parents, in "keeping with the spirit of the season", had invited many friends and acquaintances for Christmas dinner. This only meant that there was even more work to be done than usual.

On the night of the dinner, James was Levitating a stack of plates to the dining room (technically, he was still underage, but what did he care?) when he heard raised voices coming from the living room. He set the plates down on the nearest table and peeked through the keyhole; Emmeline Vance and Marlene McKinnon were inside, arguing about something. He knelt down to listen.

"Don't yell, Emmeline,"Marlene said. "There are a whole lot of people who could hear us, and then we'd be in hot water."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Emmeline replied. "But the Order's latest mission isn't going anywhere positive. You-Know-Who's just gaining more ground, and we can hardly do anything about it."

"I know," Marlene sounded regretful. "Sometimes, I wonder if I did the right thing by joining."

"Don't say that!" Emmeline's high-pitched, scornful voice echoed through the room. "You were glad enough to take part in the first meeting, if you remember it."

"Oh yes, I do," Marlene replied, and now she sounded wistful. "Remember all the names we came up with?"

"Yes, and Johanna's amazing cooking," Emmeline said. "Speaking of which, I'd better check if Euphemia needs any help in the kitchen." James had just enough time to jump out of the way before he heard something like glass falling on the floor; then the door opened, and Emmeline strode out.

"What was all that about?" came a voice from behind him. He turned to see Sirius standing behind him, but it didn't surprise him. They'd always had an uncanny ability to deduce each other's whereabouts.

"Let's go and find out," James said, pushing the door open.

Marlene looked shocked to see them but remained calm. She used a Vanishing Spell to clean up the glass Emmeline had knocked over, asking, "Is dinner ready?"

"It's not about that," James said, sitting on the sofa next to her. "What's the Order?"

At his question, Marlene seemed to deflate. "You heard our conversation, didn't you, you little brats?"

They had the good grace to look ashamed. "Well, sorry about that," James said, after a short pause. "But we'd still like to know what's going on."

"Well, there's no way I'm telling you," Marlene said, her arms crossed. "If you can't be trusted enough not to listen at keyholes, how can I trust you with this?"

"Fair enough," James said. "So we'll just go to Emmeline, tell her you told us, and get the rest out of her."

"No!" Marlene said. She exhaled in frustration. "I was asked not to tell anyone. You'll find out next year or when you're older, anyway."

"So if we will get to know anyway, what's the harm in telling us now?" Sirius cajoled. "Come on, Marlene. Be a sport and tell us what's going on."

Marlene didn't know what to do. On the one hand, Order loyalty had to—_had to_—come first. If information got out, it would lead to the immediate downfall of all they'd worked for during the past few years. On the other hand, James Potter and Sirius Black were the last people who'd spill information when it was unwarranted. True, they were careless, arrogant little twits, but they could be serious when necessary. She'd seen that side of them. Lily had seen it too, and she trusted Lily. Besides, she herself had been so sure that they would join as soon as they were of age. She didn't have to tell them everything, she decided.

"This isn't a joke or a game," she began carefully. "This is dangerous information, and in the wrong hands, it could end us all." She had the boys' attention now; they looked at her with wide, genuinely interested eyes. "Tell me what you already know."

"We know it's something against You-Know-Who," James said. "So... some sort of undercover society?"

"You're too smart for your own good," Marlene said. "Well, you're right, more or less. There are two kinds of evil people in this world. People who do evil stuff, and people who see evil stuff being done and don't try to stop it. The Order's made up of people who aren't evil." She remembered Emmeline saying the exact same thing at the first Order meeting, and almost smiled at it.

"How do we join?" Sirius piped up.

"Slow down," Marlene said. "First of all, you can't join till you're of age, so put that thought out of your head for the time being. Next, it's not like your school Charms Club. There's an extremely high risk of death here. Oh, and if you have some juvenile notion of heroism in your adolescent minds, forget about it. There's a reason we work undercover."

"Is that where you were when you kept disappearing the past few months?" James asked. "Were you on Order missions? Is that why Lily's letters were returned?"

"Yes, yes and yes," Marlene said wearily. "I believe you know the consequences of spreading this information. Now, if you'll excuse me, I can hear your mother calling us for dinner." With that, she left the room.

The boys looked at each other. "We've got to tell the others about this," they said in unison.

OoOOOoo

"So there's a secret society to fight against the Dark?" Peter said as they sat in James's bedroom that night. "Cool! What do you think, Moony?"

"I think it's a great idea," Remus replied. "Marlene was right when she said that it is just as evil to watch bad things being done and not try to stop them as to do the bad things yourself. But we'll need to think carefully before deciding whether to join or not."

"Well, we still have our NEWT year ahead of us to decide," James said. "We have a whole twelve months ahead of us. There's no need to rush."

"To be honest, I've already decided I want to join," Sirius said quietly, making James's head turn. Sirius wasn't known for being quiet, and in the few times he was, you could tell he wasn't joking.

"So have I," Remus said. "Even if that's all I'll be doing after I leave Hogwarts, I want to do _something _useful with my life." A few years earlier, the others would have hastened to reassure him, but they were older now. They couldn't lie and say that people would hire a werewolf because they weren't exactly immature thirteen-year-olds any more. They knew what was coming.

"I'd like to as well," Peter said. "I think I'm brave enough not to run from danger any more, and I want to help."

The bedroom door opened, and Lily peeked in. "Still up?" she said, sounding rather exasperated.

"Don't worry about us, Lils," James said, getting up to plant a kiss on her cheek as the other Marauders made faces at them.

"You two have really got something going, haven't you?" said Sirius mischievously, as Lily grabbed a Muggle comic of hers from James's bed and left.

"Well, it's probably not too early to think about the future," James said. "We might as well get to bed before my parents wake up."

Maybe it was dangerous, James thought as he got into bed that night. But he couldn't stand by and watch his world go to pieces.

As soon as he was of age, he would join the Order, and not even Merlin would be able to stop him.


End file.
